Hi ,

Should it ever be possible to donate £9 million to a political party? Is that ever a fair thing for a society? If your answer to that is "no" then A) yes, I agree and B) the new bill regulating elections, the Representation of the People Bill, will not prevent it. 

To be fair, the published bill contains a lot of steps forward, including introducing votes at 16, automatic voter registration and fairer calculation of boundaries, and cutting off one major loophole using overseas shell corporations to funnel unethical donations. The issue with it is that public trust in democracy and politicians has completely collapsed and this bill doesn't even come close to addressing the causes.

Unequal wealth and the unequal power it can buy have been undermining democracy for a long time, but in recent years the problem of big political donations buying influence has skyrocketed. The record for largest single donation to a political party keeps being broken, while corporate donations tripled over the last three elections according to new analysis from Democracy for Sale. Notably, they found that these donations (usually from shell companies controlled by individual millionaires) exceeded trade union donations to the Labour Party for the first time ever in 2024.

These donations can be extremely profitable. Autonomy Institute, for example, identified 373 companies that donated funds to a political party and also received a public contract – winning those companies on average £1294 for every £1 they donated.

This is why we're petitioning Steve Reed, the government minister responsible for the bill, to introduce real safeguards for democracy: a ban on donations over £1000, a complete end to loopholes that allow donations to be routed through other entities, and real powers for the Electoral Commission to investigate and punish people breaking these laws. 

Yesterday's arrest of Peter Mandelson for misconduct in public office shows how entrenched the influence of the super-rich is in our system. Clearly, we need dramatic reform to the way power is gathered and wielded. Cutting off the flow of cash is a crucial first step to a fairer, equal system.

Should there be a cap on donations – and if so, what should the cap be? Would you support state funding of political parties?

What's the best way to organise for equality? You said:

• "Show the power of communities - to identify and to solve problems, to mobilise and to put pressure on governments."
  
  

• "Bring as many organisations as possible together under a coalition with agreed public good targets. Encourage as many non-aligned members of the public to join/support those targets. Run long-term, target specific campaigns to refute the right-wing press attacks, especially on social media."
  
  

• "Getting our voting system replaced with PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION as soon as possible and also an irrevocable law for holding elections when they are due."
  
  
• "Get politicians to focus on issues to do with equality and redistribution rather than emphasising growth all the time. They are our masters and nothing will change without getting them genuinely on board. At the moment all we get is lip service."
  
  
• "Research and education. Sharing what is learnt - in a small rural village like mine, maybe a discussion group. An overarching organisation who can help us start a group and to whom we can forward our findings, news and desires in the hope that the organisation can put pressure on those who cause inequality"